1. Field of the Invention
Perforations provide a mechanism for dividing a web of print media into individually dispensable sheets.
2. Description of Related Art
Relevant printing systems dispense individually printed sheets from a continuous web of print media. The individual sheets can be dispensed to recipients by automated cutting or manual tearing of the sheets from the web. However, automated cutting adds mechanical complexity, imposes servicing requirements, and subjects printing systems to mechanical breakdown. Manual tearing shifts some of this burden onto recipients for carrying out the necessary operations. In addition, tearing can produce ragged edges and disturb registration of the print media within the printer.
Perforations have been used to assist tearing along designated lines. However, the amount of force required to tear even perforated lines can vary widely depending upon the direction and position at which the tear forces are applied. Braking mechanisms, which add problems similar to those of automated cutting mechanisms, are sometimes needed to maintain proper registration of the print media within the printers.
So-called “slits” separated by uncut portions referred to as “ties” form the perforated lines, which can extend from one edge to another through a center of the web. Tearing is accomplished most efficiently by applying tensile forces in offset positions that concentrate the tensile forces through one tie at a time. As each tie breaks, the tensile forces shift to the next adjacent tie. Ordinarily, such tearing starts by breaking ties near one edge of the web and proceeds by breaking ties in succession through the center to the other edge of the web.
Other more centered positions for applying tensile forces can distribute the tensile forces through more than one tie at a time. Bursting is accomplished by breaking at least some or all of the ties between both edges of the web at once. The tensile forces required to break all of the ties simultaneously are much higher than those required to break the same ties in succession. Breaking a smaller grouping of the ties simultaneously requires tensile forces intermediate to those required for breaking the ties individually or all at once.
Such wide variability in the tensile forces required to manually separate individual printed sheets along lines of perforation also requires a corresponding capacity for high braking forces and imposes inconsistent demands on recipients to perform the tearing operation. The tensile forces required for bursting all of the ties or even some groupings of the ties can easily exceed reasonable levels for performing manual operations of this sort.
One solution is to weaken the ties to reduce the maximum tensile force required to burst the ties simultaneously. However, the weakened ties also lower the minimum tensile forces required to tear the ties in succession. Such weakened webs are subject to breakage during in-line manufacture, loading into the printer, and subsequent feeding through the printer.